This is the place to grab dinner with some friends on a Wednesday night...when you should be saving money by cooking in. But the inexpensive dishes and open, brick-walled atmosphere makes Joy's the obvious winner in the fridge-or-food-out challenge.

To get your meal kicking start off with an order of khanom jeeb, steamed shrimp shu mai served with a special soy sauce, or get a sampling of the goods with a super combo of fried shu mai, crab Rangoon, fried won ton and fried tofu ($7.50).

There's almost no end to the $6-$7 entrees, which run from spicy dishes like pad khee mao (wide rice noodles with veggies), chicken coconut curry and pad prik (rice sauteed with vegetables in a spicy sauce), to more mild and traditional picks like pad Thai. With a BYOB policy, it's literally impossible to fork over $20 per person. Or even $10.

Things get even better around noon. The $5.50-$6.50 lunch specials, offered dine-in only from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., include an entree and a sampler of spring rolls, egg rolls, cucumber salad and crab Rangoon. Throw-open French doors make the window seats the place to be. BYOB.

Average cost: <$10

Centerstage Reviewer: Erin Delahanty